Download or read book Becoming and Being Old written by Bill Bytheway and published by SAGE. This book was released on 1988-12-16 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume contributors examine the assumptions normally made about the elderly and offer differing sociological perspectives on becoming and being old, and on the concept of age itself. Instead of seeing the elderly in terms of needs, they offer alternative analyses in light of class, gender and race. Examining the life-cycle perspective on old age, they show how retirement from the workforce is only one aspect of becoming old, and arguably one which is important for only a minority of the ageing population.